While she didn’t get the win at the EBI Combat Jiu-Jitsu Fight Night in Los Angeles in Friday, Kayla Patterson spoke highly of the “surreal” experience of going against Beatriz Mesquita in what was billed as a super-fight.
Los Angeles, CA — At EBI’s Combat Jiu-jitsu Fight Night 1 on Friday, Kayla Patterson took on Beatriz Mesquita in a fight that was heavily promoted by the organization. Mesquita, a champion at bantamweight, was moving up to face Patterson, but got the job done. Patterson was submitted by arm-bar. Yet despite the weight Mesquita was apparently giving up, Patterson told Cageside Press following the event that Bea had a strength advantage.
“She definitely was a lot stronger,” Patterson said. “I roll with strong people all the time, but she was a little stronger than I had anticipated. But her jiu-jitsu was phenomenal. So strength at the end of the day doesn’t really matter. She had better jiu-jitsu at this point.”
While she didn’t get the win at CJJFN 1, Patterson did get to take part in an incredible event. Combat Jiu-jitsu, which adds open palm strikes to traditional jiu-jitsu, is in its infancy. “It was surreal, it was really surreal,” she said of the experience. Especially getting to go with an established competitor in something so unique. “I’ve been training for nine years, when I started jiu-jitsu, I started watching Bea. So surreal is the only word I can come up with as to how it felt. It was an honor to be chosen to fight her also at the first ever Combat Jiu-Jitsu Fight Night.”
While some competitors are planning on using CJJ to help with the jump to MMA, Patterson told us that “I don’t really have any aspirations to do MMA. I jumped onto this because I’m on a little Yes Theory kick, trying to just do all the cool opportunities that come my way.”
“I feel like I still have so far to go in jiu-jitsu that it would be a dishonor to how far I’ve come to switch over,” she added.
Instead, the Pan Ams in March, then possibly the Worlds in May are up next. “I’m still a brown belt, so I’ve got a lot of competition within those categories themselves to overcome.”
